NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

CASE STUDY: KESTER NP505-HR Qualified at EMS for Automotive Build

October 08, 2014

First orders of Kester NP505-HR are going to be used in a High Reliability Automotive build. The stable paste properties and other benefits of NP505-HR were attractive to the customer that will be building modules that will result in a fully networked vehicle.

Background: Customer A is a mid-size contract manufacturer in Illinois, near Chicago.

Kester previously created a good relationship with Customer A by providing technical service and a line audit.

For their needs at the time, Kester recommended NXG1.

Customer A had been satisfied with the performance of NXG1, but they were open to evaluating NP505-HR as they wanted to understand future Halogen-free offerings for upcoming projects.

Compelling Solutions of NP505-HR: When compared to NXG1, NP505-HR was shown to have:

Extreme paste stability. The paste could be used immediately out of the jar with no working time. There was also no need to for pre-run boards after breaks. Overall, facilities costs are improved.

Zero halogen formula with same results as halogenated NXG1. Customer A will market this to their end users/customers.

No odor

Homogeneous viscosity. There was no need mix or blend the paste in the jar with a spatula.

Longer Stencil Life as compared to NXG1

Noticeably reduced residues as compared to NXG1

Initial runs showed improved CpK for the printing inspection on 0201 placement. This will be further tested and verified.

The paste volume consistency improved for use on smaller screen apertures

Closing the Sale: NP505-HR was beta-sampled to Customer A in May 2015. As soon NP505-HR was commercially available, Kester Key Account Manager reconnected with Customer A. Customer A plans to use the NP505-HR paste to build their new awarded business with an Automotive OEM, which is their second largest customer. This application will be for use in Fleet management vehicles under dash at the 0B2 connector. This business is expected to be 200,000-million boards per year equating to 2,800 jars per year. Customer A has also aligned the use of this paste to their new project, which will hit second quarter next year. This project will result in the usage of 3,600 additional 505 paste jars at Customer A per year. The first shipment of NP505-HR was shipped to Customer A on September 19, 2014.

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